4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - March 27, 2000 Fa ing eense Without key blueliner Hunitzicker, 'M' tires out*- By Uma Subramanian Daily Sports Writer ALBANY, N.Y. -They laid it all on the line, but it simply wasn't enough. And so yesterday, a very young Michigan hock- ey team learned one of life's toughest lessons - how to deal with coming up short. Sure, the Wolverines had lost before, but yester- day's season-ending defeat at the hands of Maine will leave a long lasting mark. But regardless of the outcome, no one can deny that the Wolverines should be applauded for the effort they put forth in their final weekend of the year - especially on the defensive front. They had to fight through a truck full of adversi- ty. Maine was the top-seeded defending champion and the team who had a first-round bye. The odds were completely in the Black Bears' favor. Even more importantly, on Sunday, Michigan was relying on a very thin blue-line rotation that had lost stalwart defenseman Dave Huntzicker to a knee injury the previous day. Though against the Red Raiders, the Wolverines came away with a 4-3 overtime win, they were forced to use an exhaust- ing five-man defensive rotation. In the final contest, Brad Fraser, a walk on this season, stepped into the line to attempt to fill Huntzicker's hole; however, in the end, nothing could compensate for the fatigue of the previous day. But luckily for the Wolverines, the beast of weari- ness did take its time in rearing its ugly head. In fact, led by goaltender Josh Blackburn, who stopped 27 shots in the first two periods, the Wolverines were able to hang with their skilled foes and even carried a 1-0 lead through the first 40 minutes. Finally, in the third, Maine awoke just as the Wolverines ran out of steam in their own zone - a fact that became blatantly obvious as the Black Bears scored five goals in the final stanza to close out Michigan's year. "Any time you lose a guy like Huntz, it really puts a hole in your defensive core," said sophomore Jeff Jillson who made several key stops. "In the third period, we just ran out of gas. The guys just gave it everything they had. That's all you can ask for. The finality of the loss will probably set in "when we realize that we're not going to practice. But we gave it everything we had and that's how you want to go out." In the future, someone may look back on the 1999-2000 season and say that it came full circle. His logic would probably include the fact that after losing three blue-liners in the off-season - includ- ing one of the nation's best in Mike Van Ryn - the Wolverines were plagued by defensive problems early on and it was those problems that finished them off in the end. Granted against Maine, the Wolverines did suffer from a few defensive lapses that affected the out- come of the game. After the initial disappointment wears off, look- ing back, what will stick out most about the Michigan defense is how much it grew during the course of the season. It's a growth that spans all aspects of the blueline, from the play of veterans Jillson, Huntzicker, cap- tain Sean Peach, Jay Vancik and Bob Gassoff to the emergence of Blackburn and last but not least to the development of surprise freshman Mike Roemensky. Like any team during the course of a longseason, Michigan went through growing pains and the defense went with it. Eventually, however, through trials and tribulations, all six players impacted their team and made their influences known. For instance, with 34 points, Jillson received the CCHA's Offensive Defenseman of the Year Award and Huntzicker was named to the CCHA's All- Defensive team. As captain, Peach was the moral leader of his team. For his part Vancik had a break- out year and led the team in the plus-minus catego- ry. Gassoff and Fraser stepped in and added key sixth-man depth to the rotation. Roemensky came in midway through the season and catapulted himself right into the starting lineup. His play culminated in the NCAA Tournament when he scored Michigan's first goal on Friday. Blackburn, Michigan's last line of defense, suffered a season-threatening injury in October, only to return in January and take his team on a winning, streak. Against Maine, Blackburn was kept the Wolverines in the contest until the third period. He recorded a career high, 40 saves in the contest. Looking to the future, three strong defensemen will join the blueline ranks next season, with the ability to build upon the great.steps the defensemen took this season. Michigan goaltender Josh Blackburn returned from a devastating title. Blackburn had a career-high 40 saves against Maine. DANA LINNANE/Daily foot injury earlier in the season to spur the Wolverines to a CCHA regular season The three Daily stars of the NCAA Tournament MIKE COMRIE SOPHOMORE CENTER The Hobey Baker candidate didn't disappoint as he had a spectacular weekend Comrie tallied three goals and the game- winning assist against Colgate on Friday night. JOSH BLACKBURN SOPHOMORE GOALTENDER Facing an utter onslaught of shots, Blackburn responded in playoff form. The sophomore stopped 28 shots in the victory over Colgate and held off a career-high 40 shots against Maine. Icers ought to the itter end GRANDSTAFF Continued from Page 18 defense, and their season came to a close. Maine sophomore Matt Yeats claimed after yesterday's contest that the Black Bears were able to come out on top because, "Will overcomes skill, and I think our will to win was a lot stronger than theirs. All season long we've talked about repeating as champions and continu- ing the legacy, now we have a chance to do that." Despite his obvious talents, Yeats has no clue what he's talking about. Time and again, Michigan has proven that if anything, the one thing it does have is a will to win - that comes from the character of this season's players, and from their refusal to fail. That is the legacy of Michigan hockey. Maine may be building a mini-dynasty - a second straight championship would be the third in a decade for the Black Bears - but they cannot begin to understand what it is to continue a legacy, at least not in the same respect that the Wolverines do. Michigan may have missed the Frozen Four for the second consecutive sea- son, but don't expect that trend to continue. Wipe your tears away Sean, you've lived and left a legacy that will not soon be forgotten, and with the strong corps of returning players on next season's team, the Wolverines should continue that legacy, and may find themselves returning to Albany - the site of the 2001 Frozen Four. - Chris Grandstaff can be reached at cgrandst@tuniich.edu. GEOFF KOCH AP PHOTO Michigan freshman Mike Cammallerri has quietly performed on Michigan's second line all season despite the incredible atten- tion placed on sophomore Mike Comrie. Spectacular first-year class foresees future prowess JUNIOR FORWARD The frosh chronicles r'' For the second-straight season, the Michigan hockey team has welcomed an excessive batch of youth. Here's how this ichigan coach Red erenson shifted Koch to the top line before Friday's game. Good thing - because Koch was in the right place at the right time, deflecting a Comrie shot for the game-winning tally. year's crop resulted. Player Mike Cammalleri Andy Hilbert Mark Mink Jed Ortemeyer Mike Roemensky* J.J. Swistak Pos F F F F D F GP 39 38 41 41. 19 36 13 17 7 8 3 A 13 16 12 16 '3 1 Pts 26 33 19 24 4 4 FRESHMEN Continued from Page 11B Cammalleri delivered the helper on Mike Comrie's power play score later in the first while the freshmen line of Mink, Cammalleri and Shouneyia teamed to tally Michigan's third. That trend only continued yesterday as Ortmeyer added assists on a pair of Comrie goals and Cammalleri grabbed an assist on the second of Michigan's scores. "The freshman played well for us," Berenson said after Saturday's 4-3 overtime win. "Cammalleri's line played a good game. They looked like veterans out there." Last season it was Blackburn, Comrie and Jeff Jillson headlining a heralded cast of returnees with the unfulfilled promise of a bright future - now it seems Michigan's future only grows brighter as it grows a year older. Though yesterday's loss was a bitter pill for Blackburn to swallow, he says he takes comfort in knowing that Michiga* will be poised for a return next year - a return that will hinge on the presence of Michigan's next sophomores. And as a frustrated Blackburn scratched his "playoff beard" before heading for the Michigan bus, he gave the subtle sense that the Michigan team who "left it all on the ice" is the Michigan team that plans to be back on that ice in a year. With slightly fuller beards. * joined Mvichigan at start 4f stecond semtester Michigan junior Geoff Koch scores the game-winning goal against Colgate in overtime Phots y DANAUNNANE/Dalv .